Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Freakin' crappy weather sets in. Or at least that's what local election folks are attributing to the drop off at the ballot boxes.

Knox County Administrator of Elections Cliff Rodgers says early voting turnout has now decreased compared to 2008. After 12 days of voting so far, 88,232 folks vote, which is a 4.8 percent decrease from the 2008 presidential election when 92,614 votes had been cast after 12 days.

"We began to see a drop off on Saturday with the colder weather and that trend continued though yesterday," Rodgers said. "Fewer college students are voting at our University of Tennessee location. Voter turnout at the University Center is down 50 percent from 2008."

Heck yeah, more election stuff. Cause
you just can't get enough. (It's all over on Tuesday, baby. Yeah.)

Anyhoo, my main man down in the county's election office just sent
out another one of these news releases. The guy is on a roll.

Soooo, Administrator of Elections Cliff
Rodgers wants to remind everyone that tomorrow is the final day to
vote early. Yup (counting today) there's only two days left.

All early voting locations will be open
from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (except for the Deathstar, which dances to its
own dark tune).

“If you've moved since the last
election or want to avoid the long lines on election day, please vote
early,” Rodgers said. “It doesn't matter where you live. If
you're registered to vote in Knox County, you can vote at any early
voting location."

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Checked my email this morning. No election releases from Cliff Rodgers. Had to send him an email, asking what's up. He said to remind the porch readers that today is the last day to apply for an absentee ballot.

Yup, that will work, I told him.

Anyhoo, I have some numbers from Day 8, which was at the end of last week. Turnout at that point was 6.6 percent higher than the 2008 presidential elections with 57,476 people hitting the polls compared to 53,680.

There ya go. So far we're doing better.

In the meantime, if you want to annoy the folks at the election commission, call 215-2480. Click right smack here for more info.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Casual Chris Caldwell, the county's
senior director of finance, is the 2012 R. Martin Peters Young
Alumnus of the Year.

Now, I don't know exactly what this
means, but it sounds kind of smart. And cool.

So, congrats to Caldwell. (He got a nice looking clock, but no coin.)

The honor was announced in one of
county communication director Michael “Big Sexy” Grider's spin
releases, which he is prone to email, particularly during the
beginning of the week when not jack is going on and he figures he'll
get some coverage.

But I digress.

The Lincoln Memorial University Alumni
Association recently picked Caldwell with the honor.

“Your recent appointment as finance
director of Knox County shows the confidence the Knox County
government has in you with their most important information. You play
an important role that touches the lives of so many people. Also, you
are a positive role model not only in your community but throughout
East Tennessee.”

The award, according to the spin
release, is given to an individual “who embodies the character and
spirit of its namesake and exhibits qualities including patriotism,
leadership ability, volunteerism, a strong work ethic and
ambassadorship on behalf of the university.”

(Caldwell, 33, is a graduate of the
school. I got no idea what he studied, but I assume it dealt with
numbers.)

“Chris is great to work with, and is
very deserving of this recognition,” Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett
said. “He doe an outstanding job as finance director, and is
committed to being a good steward of taxpayer money.”

Screams from da Porch just wanted to run this pic, but figured we should include something else. You know, just to take up more space. Here's hoping you won't need this information, but if you or someone you know needs a Red Cross Shelter to ride out, escape, whatever Hurricane Sandy, you can find one right smack here. Stay safe.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

According to Cliff Rodgers, the
county's top election official, local voter turnout is 5.5 percent
higher than the 2008 presidential election. After six days of voting,
41,229 folks have cast ballots early. At this point in 2008, some
38,958 had voted.

“Many voters have made up their minds
and want their voices to be heard in this election,” he said in a
released statement and in a no-doubt attempt to lure people to the polls
early, so on election day he can be in bed by midnight (heh.). “If
you've made up your mind, avoid the lines on Election Day and go vote
this week.”

He also said that the election
commission expects longer lines at early voting locations next week
as folks will wait until the last minute.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

County Communications Manager Michael Grider, freshly returned from a short vacation at the middle Tennessee nudist colony, just sent out a press release to remind folks about tomorrow's National Food Day event at New Harvest Park.

Grider says the even kicks off at 4:30 p.m. and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett (ah, now I know why I received this) will make some brief remarks. He said at 5 p.m. they'll announce the winners of the Scarecrows in the Park contest.

Whatever that is. (I should have probably read the release before I posted it.)

"There will be plenty of good visuals, as the farmer's market is very popular and the scarecrows will be on display," Grider notes.

In addition, Grider said that during the event, the administration will announce the location of the November cash mob.

Finally, the state's toothless wonder,
also known as American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, sent the mayor a mean letter, arguing that pedophiles have rights, too.

So, what the heck ever happened?

“Nothing really, of course the policy
is in place but there's been no activity (related to it),” said
Mary Pom Claiborne, PR spin-meister for the local library system.
“All's quiet on the western front.”

I then asked county Communications
Manager Michael “Big Sexy” Grider about the policy and what it
meant. He said that it shows how bad a$$ it is because it's
scared off any sex offenders. They wouldn't dare show up at the
library he suggested.

Upset about that pesky little law that
now requires voters to have ID? Well, the Knox County Election
Commission, in a news release sent out yesterday (when I was out of
town), says all you have to do is vote by mail (so long as you're old
enough).

Anyhoo, ya got one week as the deadline to
apply for an absentee by-mail ballot is next Tuesday.

“Tennessee law has changed,” said
Knox County's top election person, Cliff Rodgers. “Any registered
voter 60 years of age or older may apply to vote by mail. You don't
need a doctor's note. You just need to apply.”

Please note that you need to fill out
an “Application for Absentee By Mail Ballot,” which you can
download right smack here. Or, call 215-2480 and someone will mail a
form to you.

Rodgers said they're expecting 200,000
folks to vote in this election, so “don't get caught waiting in
long lines on Election Day.”

Monday, October 22, 2012

In what I'd say was a pretty classy
move (I suppose some folks would say it was a political move, but
whatever), Knox County Commissioner Brad Anders suggested that the
board nominate all six or seven (I lost count there) of the
applicants who showed up last week to interview for the final spot on
the county's Ethics Committee.

Then Knox County Chairman Tony Norman
pointed out that “someone in the audience” can also submit a
nomination.

All this, obviously, was in far contrast to the
Oct. 10 Ethics Committee meeting in which the panel reappointed two
of its members and – according to commissioners and some folks –
gave little consideration to the other 23 applicants.

According to his resume, Gross has some
governmental experience. In August, Gov. Big Bill Haslam picked him
to serve a three-year term as the East Tennessee Commissioner on the
State of Tennessee Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission
in Nashville (talk about a mouthful of a title).

Now, with that said, all this could be moot
anyway. The commission today also agreed that during next month's
work session it will probably appoint a subcommittee to look into
overhauling the 9-member panel.

Turnout in Knox County early voting is
slightly ahead of turnout from the 2008 presidential election,
according to a release sent out by the election commission. So far,
24,417 folks have hit the ballot boxes compared to 24,123 in 2008.

“Early voting is a flexible and
convenient option for many voters,” Knox County Administrator of
Elections Cliff Rodgers said in a prepared statement. “Voters enjoy
avoiding lines on election day.”

Residents can still vote early at nine
spots. Polls are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. During the week and from
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. (The Deathstar location closes daily
at 5 p.m., opens at noon on Thursday and will be open from 8 a.m. to
4 p.m. this Saturday.)

Rodgers suggests that people who have
moved recently, vote early. Just in case.

“We can process your change of
address at any early voting location,” he said. “Remember, no
matter where you live in Knox County, if you're registered to vote,
you can vote at any early voting location.”

Anyhoo, the Knox County Commission will
continue its monthly luncheons. There was some thought that once Tony
Norman took over as chair they would stop. His predecessor, Mike
Hammond, paid for the lunches (commissioners ate well) and they got
pretty pricey. So, don't blame Norman for not wanting to foot the
bill. (He even joked that if they continued they'd all be eating
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.) However, commission members all
agreed to each pay for one lunch, so it works out.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett's latest cash will be held on Saturday (this is a change), Oct. 27 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Stanley's Greenhouses and Plant Farm.

(A little inside baseball: The mayor's chief of staff, Dean Rice, told Burchett when he thought of doing these things that it was a dumb idea. Heh. Tim never fails to remind him of how successful they've been so far. Plus it doesn't hurt that these things are also pretty good re-election tools.)

Anyhoo, according to the spin release, which was no-doubt written by county communications manager Michael Grider, who has returned from his vacation at the middle-Tennessee nudist colony, this cash mob will have a "fall festival-like atmosphere, which will include hot dogs, hay rides for kids, cemetery tours, games and cash mob specials."

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Knoxville-Knox County League of Women Voters tomorrow evening will host a form about the proposed
amendments to the Knox County Charter that will appear on the November
ballot. (No word on the city charter's proposed amendments, but
considering everyone ignores the city . . . .)

The shindig kicks off at 7 p.m. in the
Main Assembly room of the Deathstar.

Obviously the two big things on the
county's side (cause, again, no one cares about the city) are the
pension program and term limits.

A couple folks from the Knox County
Charter Review Committee, a couple of Knox County Commissioners (have
they sun shined this meting yet?????) and some guy from one of those
TV channels will be there to talk about this stuff.

I, however, won't be there. I'm taking
a few days off. The voices are starting to speak to me again.

Monday, October 15, 2012

In fact, she gets pretty upset when
fellow commissioners vote against them.

Case in point: She took fellow members
to task late last year when the board voted against a redistricting
plan that a panel spent months working on. Instead, the board signed
off on their own version, and one that wouldn't displace any of them.

Go figure.

Anyhoo, I figured it was worth asking
the good commissioner why she was now spearheading a proposal to
postpone a parking fee increase for the government peeps who park
below the Deathstar.

I mean, it was after all a committee
that proposed the increase and Broyles was part of the commission
that approved the bump.

Here's her response:

“The difference is that whenever I've
said that before it was about an issue that we had just sent to a
committee and then when we get it back we immediately tossed the work
out the window and said 'we don't want it.' We did this (parking fee
increase) two years ago and we implemented it but it didn't go as
expected. So, we're not tossing the work out the window. We're just
asking them to study the issue in light of the economy.”

OK, fair enough, I guess.

The commission briefly addressed the
issue during today's work session, and members in the coming week(s)
are expected to reconvene the parking committee.

I figure the county (and city) for that
matter will hold off on the fee increase. However, I just don't see
them letting the public park in the building. (Another issue. Another
time.)

Looks like six folks (unless I
miscounted) interviewed with the Knox County Commission for the open
seat on the the county's Ethics Committee today. Another 14 didn't
show up.

One person, Diane Jablonski, skewered
the committee.

She said she was withdrawing her
application yet appeared before the commission because she “felt
this was the only way that would be able to publicly air my disgust
with the fiasco perpetrated on the public by the so-called Ethics
Committee.”

She noted that the board “operated
within their own rules,” but there is “something un-ethical about
a committee, who deals with the public trust, appointing themselves
to full terms of office.”

Let me interject here. Last week the
board gave 20 or so applicants each two minutes to say why they
should be picked for he two open spots. Two of those applicants were
board members whose terms were expiring. The board nominated the two
members and then promptly reappointed them. This hasn't gone over
well with some folks. Today's selection is to fill a partial term.
The commission – not the committee – is to make this appointment.

OK, back to Jablonski:

“(What) happened was a sham, a farce
and a fraud perpetrated on the citizens who had applied,” she said.
“This self-appointed Ethics Committee, in my opinion, did a great
disservice to Knox County and to the citizens who had appeared before
them, in good faith, believing that they would be given fair
consideration. What happened has unfortunately become the norm in
Knox County where ethics is paper thin.”

She noted that educators, attorneys,
mediators and “many of whom had served on ethics committees within
their own professions applied.

Anyhoo, enough of that. Got more
meetings to cover. I should note that no one, including Jablonski,
has complained to me about the actual selections that were made, but
rather the process.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Here's something I found kind of interesting. If you didn't
see Saturday's story – click right smack here for that bad boy – then here's the
down and dirty: Knox County Commissioners and Knoxville City Council members
are expected to talk about postponing a fee increase of $12.50 for about 615
government workers who park in the garage under the ol' Deathstar.

Now for the interesting/unusual/makes-me-scratch-my-head
part.

The folks who have handicapped placards or plates for their
car(s) don't have to pay to park. That's cool. It's state law. Whatever.

But the breakdown is certainly curious.

The county has 120 employees who have the placards/plates.
The city has seven.

Heh. Yeah.

Right now you'd be
hard pressed to get anyone to talk publicly about it, but there's quite a few
folks who aren't happy about this. They're wondering whether everyone who has a
placard really needs one.

Of course, what are you going to do? Start harassing someone
you think is scamming the system only to find out they’re really disabled? Good
luck with that.

Still, scoring one of these placards is not all that hard. I
mean look how easy it is to get pain pills around here. Or a driver's license
if you're an illegal.

In the meantime, keep in mind that even though someone
doesn't appear disabled, there are legitimate “invisible” disabilities.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Did you folks check out the debate last
night? Man, I saw about five minutes. Funny stuff. Whatever Smokin'
Joe Biden was on, well, I want some. The guy is nuts. Paul Ryan,
though, looks like Count Dracula or something. Eh, whatever. Here's a
fact checking story by the Associated Press right smack here.

In the meantime, I was looking around
the Web at the memes, jokes, etc. Found a few I liked. Looks like the
credit of these photos goes to the Associated Press, also, and
whatever jokes sites I visited.

(I'm picking on both sides, now, so I
don't want to hear any crap about the liberal media, blah, blah,
whatever. I hate 'em all equally.)

Biden working up a spirit bomb

Biden successfully conjures said spirit bomb

Biden then goes back to sleep

Can't remember where I found this one, but it's funny. Don't care who you support.

Here's a few more I found from some
blog out in Seattle or wherever. So, click right smack here for those. There's
also some good GIFs, too.

On a side note, out in Houston, folks
feel Ryan won the social media battle. Click right smack here for
their take.

I'm out for now. If I find any more
silly crap I'll throw it up. Or throw up. Or whatever.

Oh, man, this is funny. Someone has applied some new lyrics to the tune "Boot Scootin' Boogie." In the newspaper world, we call it "localizin'" the story. Not sure how happy Brooks & Dunn are gonna be. Check it out:

Well, well, we got us a little debate going on over at the hippie's site. Apparently, an applicant for the county's ethics committee isn't happy with the selection. Yesterday, I blogged about some other upset folks.

Anyhoo, what's done is done. The membership has been set. On Monday, though, the Knox County Commission will fill the third and final open slot. This is a partial term for someone who has moved (I think).

I should note that there has been some confusion. The ethics committee had two slots to fill on its panel. A lot of folks, including myself, were under the impression that the board just had that one. Well, no. The one spot is a commission appointment.

So, now that we have all that covered, I was messing around on the county's website this morning and found the resumes to the ethics committee applicants. I think it's pretty much the same folks who went before the ethics people yesterday. Means they get a second shot.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The county's ethics committee met this
morning to go ahead and rubber stamp the reappointment of two sitting
members.

And this hasn't gone over too well with
a couple of folks.

You see, 25 people applied for the two
open spots (five didn't bother showing up to today's meeting) and, quite
frankly, it appeared that no one – other than the committee members
– really had a shot.

I'm not saying that's the case, but,
you know . . . appearances and all that.

One person called it “a farce” and
another person said “the whole thing was disgusting.” A third
walked out of the room, mumbling that “it was a monumental waste of
time.”

And several have now dubbed it the
“unethical committee.” (Yes, I know. Not real original.)

Soooooo . . . . what happened?

Glad you asked.

The committee has three open spots –
two that it gets to fill and one that the Knox County Commission has
to fill in the upcoming weeks.

The 20 people – including board
chairwoman Elaine Davis and board member Mae Killebrew-Mosley – each
were given two minutes to state why they should get the pick. (Board
members said they reviewed the applications/resumes before the
meeting.)

During the first round of nominations,
the board picked Davis and Killebrew-Mosley. Now keep in mind that
only the board – no one from the public – can make nominations.

Davis in a 5-1 vote was picked. And
yes, she voted for herself. (Killebrew-Mosley also voted for herself.)

In the second round only
Killebrew-Mosely received a nomination.

As one person told me: “They didn't
even make it look good.” Heh.

Just before the meeting closed, Davis
said: “I'm incredibly amazed and appreciative of the number of
people and the quality of people who have shown up today.” She
suggested that the committee increase its size. (They've
been talking about making like this for almost two years.)

In the meantime, officials said they'd
turn the remaining applications (and there are some good ones in the batch by the
way) over to the county commission to look through. The person who
had the post that's set to expire is not applying for it.

It appears that the only thing the
committee has to do is pick a new member. Twenty-five people applied
for the gig, although one, who is currently embroiled in a little
brouhaha with the county, pulled out.

(I'm guessing the person who is already
a board member gets reappointed.)

If I'm not mistaken, the person picked
will fill the partial term that end on Halloween 2013.

The nine-member ethics board is charged with
investigating complaints regarding county business and county
employees.

Dumping notebook here from Friday's story about a proposal to conduct a salary survey of county employees
(which could eventually lead to pay increases).

The survey will probably happen. The
raises? Way to early to say. The discussions really won't take place
until next spring. Still . . . .

Here's some thoughts from Knox County
officials:

County Commission Chairman Tony Norman:
“I'd be open to the conversation but I don't know much about the
process (of conducting the survey) right now. There are a lot of
questions, particularly about the expense. It's one of those things
were all the parties need to sit down and talk about what it is and
what it means and what is it going to cost. Is there some reason to
put a whole lot of effort into something like this right now, given
where we are financially?”

Commission Vice Chairman Arrgghhh Larry
Smith: “I'm not aware (of the potential discussion). It would
be fine for me to know where we are compared to others in our
economic region, but I think this is something we need to discuss
during budget time and make the adjustment then.”

County Finance Director Casual Chris
Caldwell: “If the survey shows that we're 10 percent under market,
can we correct that overnight? Absolutely not. We know the fiscal
restraints that we are in and if the restraints are that there is no
money, well, then there is no money. Maybe it's something you could
fix over several years. But right now it's not really something we
can address until we do a survey.”

County Mayor Tim Motorcycle Burchett: “I'm not
scared of the results – I welcome them. But I don't know what the
commissioners' attitudes are going to be if the survey comes back and
it says our directors and managers are underpaid and our other
employees are overpaid. What then? Does it work both ways? I can't
see them leading the charge to pay our managers more money.”

The plan would be to survey the
county's general employees and the folks out of the sheriff's office.
That's about 2,000 people, and the combined payrolls annually total
about $84.8 million, which represents about 36.7 percent of the
county's overall budget, once you take out the spending for schools.

I asked some folks whether they should
survey the school system. I was met with more than a few blank stares
and then overall chuckles before they exploded into great laughter.
The general consensus is that teachers are underpaid and pretty much
everyone else there is overpaid. They figured it wasn't worth
pointing out the obvious. Heh.

Update: Knox County Board of Education member Indya Kincannon took issue that "everyone but teachers in KCS is overpaid."

"Not true," she said in a note to me. "Most are at or below market if you compare with to people with similar responsibilities. Principals for example, but also, gasp, those ne'er do well Central Office Administrators."

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Metro Editor John North finished third in his age
group; county reporter Mike Donila placed second in his; and city reporter
Gerald Witt won his. Police reporter Don Jacobs and Lance Coleman, who covers a
little bit of everything, also competed.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Yes, in the latest string of “he did what?” events, Knox
County Mayor Tim Burchett was involved in a motorcycle accident Thursday evening that left him with a broken “proclamation signing hand” and busted elbow.

Now, I know I’m
making light of this somewhat, but it’s because I talked to the mayor and he seems
to be recuperating and joking about the incident.

Here’s what the mayor, a longtime motorcycle enthusiast,
said happened: Burchett was riding his 1972 BSA-A65 Lightning around 10 p.m. on
Amherst Road when the back tire blew.

He said he was going about 20 to 30
m.p.h. and he tried to ease it off the route he called the “Poor Man’s Dragon”
so he could put lay it down.

“It’s not like in the movies when they run off the road and
weave around the trees or a fence,” he said. “You really can’t dodge them.”

He said he managed to get off the road and put the bike down
but it landed on his left side. When he did that, his left elbow hit the ground
“and it just exploded.” He then hit a tree with his right arm and knee.

“The thing that bothered me more than anything was that I
couldn’t tell where my legs were (or how close they were to the chain),” he
said, adding that the engine was running at top speed but his broken right wrist prevented him from turning off the accelerator off.

The mayor said he managed to turn off the bike (the key is in
the back of the bike), which killed the engine. (New bikes by the way shut off
immediately when they go down.)

“My thoughts were: I have a hot engine and gasoline and I’m
laid up in all this brush,” he added.

So get this: Someone stops to help him. The mayor patches up
the tire with fix-a-flat or whatever and then drives off as blood from the
injury fills his jacket and runs down his arm. (That’s rock star stuff right
there.)

He gets about half a mile and notices that the tire is again
going flat.

“I think God was telling me to get off that dad gum thing,”
he said. “I got it trucked home.”

It gets better: The mayor doesn’t go to the doctor. No, he
goes home, gets up in the morning and then goes to work, missing only one
meeting until Friday afternoon he finally decides that maybe he should get a
little medical helped “because I was pretty banged up.”

“Well, I had been sick with the flu the past week and I was
so far behind on my work, that I needed to catch up on it,” he said, justifying
why he didn’t need no stinkin’ doctor.

The mayor will sport a cast for a few weeks and he’s also
got a pad on his elbow. He said he’ll continue to ride, but the doctors told
him to ease off until he’s fully recovered.

“My dad used to ride (when he was alive) and when I go out
there I feel close to him even now,” the mayor said. “But while I was in that
ditch, all I heard was my mama saying: ‘You need to quit riding those things.’
Of course my daddy was laughing.”

Credit to Dan the Man for breaking the story Friday evening
and the mayor for supplying the photo.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Not a big fan of Hillary or the yapping canary (is Big Bird male or female?), but I chuckled when I saw this one going around today. If you've been under a rock for the past few days, then here's some background and a video to what I'm talking about. Have a good weekend.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

The Therapeutic Riding Academy of
Knoxville on Sunday, Oct. 14 will host its annual fall festival
fundraiser, which benefits children and adults with disabilities.
(The organization, nicknamed TRAK, provides therapeutic horseback
riding.)

The event, which runs from 3 p.m. to 6
p.m. at Doc Butler's Farms in Karns (7316 West Emory Road), will
include a demonstration lesson, pony rides, a raffle for an iPad and
television, face painting, pumpkin painting, and Knox County Mayor
Tim Burchet who will speak at the event. (No, I'm serious. How do you
think I found out about this? Yeah, spin doc Michael “Big Sexy”
Grider sent over the release.)

This seems like a pretty cool thing and
if mayor cheapskate can show up and donate some time and coin, you
can, too.

There. I feel better already. For more
information check out the organization's website right smack here.

the glass is usually half empty

My name is Mike Donila and I'm a reporter with WBIR in Knoxville, TN. I cover government. All politics is local, and mostly ridiculous. Travis Fain of Lucid Idiocy said that. He's a smart guy. This is my blog. The content ranges.